Lidl funding boost for Special Olympics club

Lidl has announced Banbridge Special Olympics as one of the recipients of funding from its Community Works initiative, with the Banbridge based community group receiving a £4,000 donation.

The established Community Works programme was first launched in 2014 and demonstrates Lidl’s ongoing commitment to the communities of Northern Ireland with special consideration for those in need of essential funding.

Lidl customers were then invited to visit their local store to cast a final vote for which of the shortlisted groups in their local area they felt were the most deserving winners.

Banbridge Special Olympics was voted overall winner at the Banbridge store receiving £4,000 of the fund, and the two runners up, Via Wings and Mindwise, will both receive £1,000 each.

Joan Ross, coach at Banbridge Special Olympics, said she was thrilled with the donation.

“It was tremendous to even be shortlisted for the Lidl Community Works Campaign but to actually win £4,000 is a fantastic boost to our club,” she said. “The votes we received from the local community are testimony to the brilliant support that the club has always received from the people of Banbridge.

“We will be using the funding to send a team of ten athletes and five volunteers to the Special Olympics All-Ireland games in June 2018 as well helping with our facility rental costs”.

Conor Boyle, Regional Director at Lidl Northern Ireland said, “Lidl Community Works is now in its fourth year and we are just as excited about the campaign as we were back in its first year as we have seen the real difference it makes within our communities. After receiving over 2,000 nominations this year, it has proven that there are still so many groups in need of support and we’re delighted to be able to step in and continue to help where we can and continue to demonstrate our commitment to making a difference in the communities that we operate in.”

In its four years to date, Lidl Community Works has already reached out to more than 700 community groups across the province, investing thousands of pounds in worthy causes.